Blood and Water and Other Metaphors
by PunkPinkPower
Summary: Sometimes he finds himself wishing that Kai were his little brother instead of Leo, that Kendrix was more than just his brain twin.


Notes: This… is not quite what I imagined it would be? This assumed that the construction of Terra Venture started after Countdown to Destruction, and that it took approximately two years to complete. Written for Rivulet027 for Power Ranger Day 2013.

Mike had come from a military background.

His father was a marine, which had meant a lot of moving around, and a lot of uncertainly growing up. Mike had always assumed he would follow in his father's footsteps, but just as Mike had turned 18, Astronema and Dark Specter had tried to destroy the planet and enslave the galaxy.

It had altered his destiny, or at the very least, changed his career plans.

The Galactic Space Alliance had formed overnight, and had handpicked from the countries best and brightest to fill their ranks as they undertook the most ambitious project in Earth's history.

Mike had only barely made it in. His great ROTC record wasn't quite the career experience the GSA was looking for, but his father's name meant something, so he had called in favors, and Mike had managed to impress the Generals when he'd interviewed. He knew, though, that almost everyone else he would be working with would have been asked to be there, and he would have to work extra hard just to stay.

Leo never understood his decision. "You'll have to leave the planet, Mike! You could never come back."

"What I'm doing is important," Mike tries to tell him, but Leo doesn't listen.

"What about Mom?" Leo asks. "Don't you care about hurting her? You know you're their favorite. This is gonna kill her."

"Mom will have to accept that I've made a decision that's best for me," Mike answers, and he zips up his suitcase resolutely. "And I'm not their favorite."

But their father always had been extra hard on Leo, and the two of them have never gotten along.

"We have to build the damn thing first, Leo," Mike continues, annoyed, "So I'll be around for a while yet."

* * *

Mike's one real advantage to working in the GSA is that he knows what a military structure looks like and runs like, and he's able to fit into the routine and the mold of a good soldier easily enough. They have a two year build time before the project, currently code named Terra Venture, is supposed to be unveiled to the public, which gives him plenty of time to move up the ranks and make a place for himself here. A real place, where he can make a difference.

For the first time in a long time, Mike is filled with a sense of hope. He lets himself start dreaming again, about adventure and far away paradise's, instead of feeling trapped by a sick parent, a poorly coping one, and a needy and immature little brother.

It's the hope that people notice about him, and it gets him places. His determination is one thing, but his ability to make the crew really believe in what they're building is another. By the time he gets assigned his first crew as a supervisor, he feels like a new person. Which is probably what draws him to Kendrix and Kai.

Kendrix had been plucked out of some bio-engineering grad school in Boston, and Kai had been fast tracked through graduation at CalTech to take his commission. They were brilliant by themselves, and terrifying when they sat down together. It's clear the first time the team meets that they're already thick as thieves, plotting together and trading looks. Kendrix's kind and clever nature is a good balance for Kai's assertive authoritarian standpoints, and Mike somehow gets them to work with the rest of the team.

Between the three of them, they exceed deadlines and expectations on all of their projects. Mike get's a commendation for his dedication to the mission.

"Oh," Kendrix says when he comes into her lab wearing the new blue cord on his shoulder. She pets it gently, says, "How handsome."

Kai, on the other hand, has a distinct look of envy on his face, but Mike has no doubt that one day Kai's honors will exceed his own tenfold.

He isn't even sure how it happens, exactly, but before he knows it, he's been welcomed into their inseparable twosome. They eat breakfast, lunch and dinner together, work together, and spend days off together. They're work is exemplary; they are a perfect combination. One day, he overhears an officer make an admiring remark about them, and he calls them the golden trio.

Maybe they were looking for something in him. Maybe they were searching for a leader, for direction. Or maybe they saw something in Mike that needed fixing, he's never really been sure. But Kendrix and Kai find a place in his life and his heart, and he finds himself wishing that he could keep them, that he could make this friendship last forever.

Sometimes he finds himself wishing that Kai were his little brother instead of Leo, that Kendrix was more than just his brain twin. He wonders if his life would have been different or happier if he'd always had them.

None of them go home for the holidays. Kai teaches Mike how to make a proper roasted lamb. Kendrix roasts marshmallows over a small electric fire. Mike makes them both try peppermint schnapps, to mixed reviews. Kendrix makes them all wear reindeer antlers around the lab.

On Christmas Eve, Kendrix calls home. Mike and Kai don't.

"You should call your sister, Kai," Kendrix scolds when she comes back to them, curling up in her blanket.

"She doesn't like to hear from me," Kai insists, looking annoyed. "Besides, we don't even celebrate Christmas. If I'm going to call, I'll do it on her birthday."

"You see her, what, twenty minutes once a year?" Kendrix pushes, and Kai shoots Mike a look. "How are you going to feel when we leave Earth forever and you never made an effort to have a relationship with your only remaining relative?"

"Fine, I imagine," Kai says, shrugging. Kendrix huffs at him.

Mike isn't sure what makes him say it, but the words pour out unbidden. "I wish I only had to see my family for twenty minutes once a year."

Kendrix looks stunned, and Kai's eyebrows go up slightly.

Mike shrugs. "My mom is… sick. She has been for a long time. And my dad and my kid brother don't get along. It makes home a stressful place," he elaborates, and Kai nods slightly, looks out the window. Kendrix chews her lip.

"I guess we all have to be a little broken to be doing what we're doing, don't we?" She wonders a few moments later, taking a sip of her drink. "I mean, we're leaving. Most of the civilians who will be on board will bring their families with them, I imagine, but the rest of us, the GSA members, we knew what we signed up for."

"Everyone is running from something," Kai agrees.

"I like to think of it like we're running _to_ something," Mike argues, smirking. "I'd rather look ahead than behind, you know?"

Kendrix and Kai exchange a look, which prompts Mike to ask, "What?"

Kendrix holds up her hands, laughing, and Kai just smiles. "You better be careful, or you're going to get assigned as a moral officer instead of a command position."

Mike laughs, chucks one of Kendrix's decorations of Kai, and Kendrix squeaks and tosses a pillow at him.

* * *

His mother passes away in mid-January.

He goes home for the funeral without telling Kendrix or Kai about it.

Leo approaches him at the wake. "I want to come with you."

Mike double takes. "What?"

"On Terra Venture. I want to come," Leo says again, his mouth hard.

Mike stares at him for a moment. "Weren't you the one who thought the whole idea was stupid?"

"I can't stay here, Mike," Leo tells him, glancing over his shoulder at their father, "Dad and I will kill each other. And now that mom's gone… there isn't anything for me here. You can bring family members, you can make special requests, I read it in your contract."

"I can't bring family members with criminal records," Mike snaps, annoyed at the invasion of privacy, "Or did you skip over that part about convicted felons?"

Leo opens his mouth, shuts it again. He takes a long pause. "What do I have to do?"

Mike sighs. "You have to stay here, Leo. Even if I wanted to, there is no way I could get you on Terra Venture."

Leo stares at him for a long moment, then nods and walks away.

Mike has a feeling it won't end there.

* * *

There are flowers on his desk when he gets back.

"Kendrix thought it was appropriate," Kai tells him from across the desk, nodding at them. "Sorry."

Mike let's his lips quirk, sets the flowers up on a shelf instead. "Thanks. Let's get back to work."

* * *

The first year brings the construction of Terra Venture up to almost 60%. They're ahead of the projected deadlines, and the GSA rewards them by officially assigning ranks and positions to its crew.

Mike and Kai both pick up command ranks, while Kendrix ends up in the science department.

Then the real work starts. The project goes live, and civilian applicants start applying for space on Terra Venture. There are a lot of slots, after all, it's a big ship, but the requirements are high.

Mike never expects to actually see Leo's name on the applicant lists.

"We were going to reject him straight out for lying about his criminal record," the lieutenant tells Mike as he stares at the computer, "But we wanted to ask if there was some relation."

Mike's jaw hardens. "Rules are rules," he tells the lieutenant, "The screening process is in place for a reason. Reject him."

But the guilt of it nags at him, and Kendrix doesn't help.

"You rejected your brother?" She asks while they walk along one of the skyline towers to inspect it.

"He doesn't meet the criteria," Mike tells her, running a hand through his hair, "And trust me, he's trouble."

"My siblings would probably say that about me," Kendrix responds, checking some things off on her pad.

"Are they coming with you?" Mike asks, just because.

"No," Kendrix says, and shrugs. "They already have lives and families. I'm the youngest in a family of six," she admits, "And an adopted family on top of that. We all sort of went different ways, but if one of them asked to come, I'd at least put in for them."

"I didn't know you were adopted," Mike says, glancing out over the landscape of the main dome.

"Mmmm," Kendrix hums, checking a few more thinks on her work pad, "I didn't know you hated your brother."

"I don't hate him," Mike argues, frowning. "I love my brother, I do. But… this is going to sound stupid."

"Good thing I'm smart enough for both of us," Kendrix grins encouragingly.

"Terra Venture is mine, you know? It's my dream," Mike admits, feeling sheepish. "I can't help but feel like if he gets on it won't really be mine anymore."

Kendrix is quiet for a moment as they walk. "We are all a little broken," she repeats quietly, and Mike sighs. "Maybe it won't be exactly like you imagined it, but I think some people deserve second chances."

"I guess I could put in for him," Mike admits, folding his hands behind his back, "But he'll be rejected anyway."

"That's the spirit. At least you could part with a clear conscience," Kendrix says, "Maybe even as friends."

"I don't know," Mike admits, "I've always sort of felt like I was picking up my little brothers messes all my life, you know? I don't know if there's any real basis for friendship there."

"Family is like that, though," Kendrix agrees, "It's not supposed to be easy, not like this was."

"Nothing's like this is," Mike tells her honestly, "I would take you and Kai over everyone else any day."

Kendrix smiles. "They say you can't choose your family, but sometimes I think that's wrong."

"Yeah, well," Mike quips, and he jostles her shoulder a little as they walk, "Blood is thicker than water, isn't it?"

"You know," Kendrix says, and she has a funny little look on her face, like she's amused, but considering, "That phrase is used all the time to talk about how familial ties are supposed to be stronger than those you have with friends, but did you know it started out meaning the opposite? It was supposed to mean that someone you've fought with, or shed blood with in the vernacular, can be more important to you than someone you share a genetic ancestry with. Families you chose are important too, Mike."

Mike tilts his head at her, gives her a sidelong glance. "You always know just what to say, do you know that?"

Kendrix shrugs, smiles. "Well, we are brain twins. But you never know, it could be a fluke."

Mike grins, and he reaches over and wraps an arm around her shoulder, squeezes tight. Kendrix puts an arm around his waist, and they walk back to their dorms together in comfortable companionship.

* * *

Mike puts in the civilian request for Leo.

He still gets rejected, but at least Mike tried.

Kai calls him noble. Kendrix doesn't say anything else about it.

* * *

None of them sleep the eve before launch.

"I can't believe we've only got a week left," Kendrix says, giggling tiredly.

"The universe awaits!" Kai agrees, smiling.

"It'll be dangerous," Mike tells them in mock-seriousness, "But all the best things are."

They lay around Kendrix's single apartment, sprawled on pillows and blankets and drinking what will probably be the last alcohol any of them will ever have, eating chocolate brownies that Kai snuck in. The diets for the people of Terra Venture will likely include little sugar or caffeine, so they're making the best of it.

"Did you say goodbye yet?" Kendrix wonders, her head on her hand.

"I called," Kai admits, sloshing his drink around. "Lea wished me luck."

"Good for you," Kendrix says, and she rests her other hand on Kai's leg for a moment. "Mike?"

"I said goodbye to my dad," Mike tells them, "But I couldn't find my brother."

"What do you think families will look like on the new world?" Kai wonders a few moments later. "Do you think we'll still be bound to the same old outdated constructs as Earth?"

"Our best estimate, barring any undocumented spatial phenomena, is that it'll take three generations for us to reach a new habitable planet," Kendrix says. "A lot can change over that kind of time."

"That's if we make it at all," Kai points out, and Kendrix gives him a look.

"We'll make it," Mike tells them, his voice low and serious, and it stops them from bickering. "We'll all make it. I know we will."

Kendrix smiles, and she reaches over and takes Mike's hand in her own. Mike squeezes it, and then he pulls them both into a tight hug.

Kai squirms. "Alright, that's enough physical affection for me," he says, "More drinking."

Mike laughs, and they finish their goodies and nod off just before virtual dawn.

* * *

"Take a good long look," Commander Stanton tells him in the morning, "It's the last time you'll ever see her."

Mike nods, and as he stares down at the planet, he doesn't feel sad.

He can't wait for the journey to begin.


End file.
